Part 13 - The Hunt

Zo'ruuk sat in that bar they had last left Nikolai, sitting at a table across from the people he had come to know. They laughed and jeered and drank, but Zo'ruuk just watched with a wide smile. Friends, these were his friends, people he was beginning to trust his life with. Jackal and Fortuna didn't have to treat him the way they did. Nikolai didnt have to accept his offer, he could have ran into the wild, ending up who knows where, and as such, he wouldn't have met Alexi. Answers were what Zo'ruuk was after, but sitting here, watching his friends, thinking of Father and the children that played in the streets, their families. Sitting there, he realized he must also fight a war, to help save his people, not just Exo kind, but Awoken and Human alike. He thought back to the Shadow, he was not afraid, he thought of the woman in his visions, and felt pain for her. His memories would come in time, he knew this, but he felt, that in his journeys, to him, his friends might end up meaning more. He smiled again, and into the night they enjoyed each others company, and through the early morn, they slept. As his friends slept behind him, sprawled across the room, Zo'ruuk sat at the window in a local hotel room, watching the purples crest the Horizon, the view punctuated by that white sphere. Frost had kissed the panes of glass in the night, and as the sun rose, warming the Earth, the frost bid goodbye until the night next. The sky was beginning to turn orange and yellow, when a hand lightly touched his shoulder. "Is it hard not being able to sleep?" Fortuna whispered, standing at his side. "It is, I do not dream, I do not know rest." he whispered back smiling, looking up into her piercing Blue eyes, her cascading silver hair flowing over her street clothes. Last night was a night of rest, before they left. She smiled softly "It's not all it's cracked up to be," she winked. Zo'ruuk was attracted to her, admittedly, Zo'ruuk had these feelings for some reason, that most Exo did not, and he knew not why. They watched the sunrise together, but not long after the Sun painted the sky with glorious blues, the birds chirping and the people beginning to bustle the daily grind, Jackal woke. He sat up in his chair, yawning greatly, Fortuna chuckled, looking back at him. "Oi, what a party dat was, eh?" He said yawning again, shaking off sleep. He scratched his stomach standing and made his way to the bathroom. "You will find what you are looking for Zo'ruuk, I know it." She said, turning, and walking over to her things by the bed. Zo'ruuk smiled. Not long after getting ready, armor on and ready to go, a knock came at their door. Jackal went to answer, Zo'ruuk has his back to the door, listening, finishing things with his utility belt. "Ayyyy!" Jackal said, opening the door. It was returned in kind by the Russians entering. "For an Irishman, you do know a thing er two bout the drink." Nikolai said laughing. "Are ye ready, Cap?" He asked. "Yes, yes I am," turning to face the troupe, "are you all equipped and ready?" They all nodded, besides with Nikolai, Alexi was the silent type he had found out, only letting lose at the bottom of a belt of Vodka. "Then we are on our way." He said, smiling. They filed their way out of the room, down the hallway into the street. They all walked the same direction, a formidable looking crew, towards the airfield. Entering the city from the Great Sands to the NorthWest, Jackal had inquired with an old contact about the Blue Robed Fallen. They had taken hold of the great southern Rockies, using the mighty mountains and valleys as a stronghold. They were to head out by airship to a an old military base south of the region by 50 clicks. The group had well provisioned packs and weaponry, they were ready for the Hunt. Nikolai was ready and wild, almost as wild as Jackal, what a character Zo'ruuk thought, chuckling. They moved through the crowded streets, nearing the air field, street by street the crowd thinned. Eventually the wide open area opened up, mostly tarmac except for the lone large command tower, the heat of the rising sun was beginning to be visible, rising from the heating tarmac. They walked out and over to their Drop ship, Alexi would pilot this time, Nikolai had informed Zo'ruuk earlier he was one of the best. They threw there packs in the middle of the boarding bay, Alexi and Nikolai took the cabin, and Jackal, Fortuna and Zo'ruuk strapped in their seats in the back. The engines roared to life, "Lets get out of here Alexi, lets see what you have." Zo'ruuk said over comms. "Ay, Comrade." He said back, an obvious smile in his voice. The next thing they knew, they were off the ground and on their way, they would have revenge within the coming days, and hopefully answers Zo'ruuk said. The images of the look on Anastasiya's face, the look on the face of the woman in his visions drove him on. He knew neither, but he knew they were important, one to him, and one to his new friend. Watching the mountains, hills and trees pass beneath, Zo'ruuk let his feelings mellow, he slowed his breathing, and he prepared. Battle was on the horizon, and he would not let his friends perish. He closed his eyes, and the world blurred around him. Deep inside his mind, his heart, he found it, the Travelers Power. He stood before it in the great vastness. It was bright, like the sun, orange and red, yellow, but it pulsated....it was warm. Zo'ruuk stepped up to it, took a breath, and walked into it. It consumed him, threatened to tear him from limb from limb. Zo'ruuk remembered Fathers teachings. "Let it take hold of you, and grasp ahold with the might of the giants that created these worlds." Zo'ruuk did just that, the heat flooded him, it tried to burn him to ash, the immense heat. He grabbed ahold with his mind, it was like wrestling with a great snake, it shook and tried to buck from his hold, but he held fast. It struggled for what seemed like a hours, but were mere seconds. The great power calmed....and settled within him, creating a cradling warmth. "I am proud of you my child." His Father echoed. Zo'ruuk opened his eyes. Sitting in the ship, across from his friends. He opened his closed fist. He willed the power within him to become an extension of himself. There, in his hand, as his friends watched, a sphere, an orange aura appeared, like a small star. The two across from him smiled, they opened their left hands, and produced the same shape orb, Fortuna's was blue, and Jackals red. All three smiled, chuckled, and continued what they were doing. Zo'ruuk looked back out the window. He would have his answers, The Hunt was on. To Be Continued.... -I hope you all enjoyed this installment, please like and comment, and more is always on the way!-